How To Colour Correct

Today’s post is going to be about colour correction. Now, up until a couple years ago, colour correction was more likely to be associated with Photoshop and other photography processes but colour correcting your face?

What?

That’s right! Colour correction for your face.

By now, most people know what a colour correction palette is and probably own some form of product for colour correction.

If you haven’t, this is what one looks like!

All those bright colours probably look a bit daunting and probably make you wonder why you’d paint green all over your face.

Well, this post is going to hopefully guide you on how to colour correct!

Most colour correction palettes feature the following as standard:

-Green

-Yellow

-Pink

-Lavender

-Peach

-Concealer Tones

Some may also have a white or shimmery cream for highlight and brightening.

The majority of brands will have a colour correcting palette so you can either pick one from your favourite brand or pick one more in your price range. As I have the Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector Palette (Pictured) I will be explaining that, but below are some others you could buy.

As you can see, each colour has a specific job in colour correcting the skin.

For anyone who has done basic art, you’ll know that these are complementary colour pairs. In colour correction, in order to neutralise a tone, you need to cover it with the colour opposite on the colour wheel.

Once you get the basic principle of which colours do what, all those different colours look a little less scary.

But how exactly do I go about colour correcting?

Let’s break it down.

Green:

Green is used to neutralise redness so spots, blotchy-ness, natural redness etc. This is primarily used round the nose, mouth and bridge of the nose/forehead for me. I don’t tend to get spots but when I do, I put a little green over the top before I apply a normal concealer so the green doesn’t shine through the foundation I’m wearing.

Yellow:

Yellow or cream is used for neutralising purple and this is normally dark circles or maybe even bruising. The light colour brightens it while also cancelling out the purple. But even if your dark circles are really dark, DO NOT cake this stuff on! Because it’s going under your eyes, it will make your under eyes really heavy so it’s best to use as little yellow as you can and then put a lighter concealer on top of your foundation to limit how much product is dragging your under eye down.

Lavender:

Lavender is used to correct yellow tones or sallowness in the skin. You may have a few patches you want to cover up or a few yellowish bruises you want to cover. I don’t tend to use the lavender from a palette, I use a purple primer which I will discuss later.

Orange:

Orange is used to correct blue tones so you may want to use some of this alongside the yellow while concealing dark circles or mix the two together. Use the orange on the darkest parts because it will conceal them better than the yellow because the yellow is so light.

Pink:

Pink is there to brighten and how I tend to use this is by placing it just below the yellow I put under my eyes. It brightens the under eye further and makes the yellow concealer look a little more natural under your foundation.

White:

This colour comes with a health warning. Use it sparingly. If you overdo it, you will look like a sparkly ghost! I prefer to mix just a little bit with my yellow for a little extra brightness. But don’t use it as a standalone highlighter! It’s not really made for that and it won’t blend as well as you want it to!

Peach:

Peach, again, is for discolouration. You could use it as a concealer under your foundation or for darker skin, you could use it to brighten some areas, like under your eyes or on darker spots you want to conceal.

Brown:

This is more aimed towards darker skinned people and helps minimize ashy skin and give you a little more of an alive look if you’re struggling in that department.

Palette’s aren’t the only type of cream colour correction you can buy. Some brands do pots of colour correcting creams (See NYX and Freedom Makeup) for people who only primarily use one or two colours and don’t want the entire palette.

You can also buy colour correcting crayons and the main brand I have seen do that is MaxFactor. But if £9.99 is too steep for you, Primark do their own version for just £1.50.

Liquid colour correctors are also an option. LA Girl do a tube with a brush for more precise application and some brands like Urban Decay do tubes with wands and doe foot applicators.

But these cream and liquid products are better for smaller areas because they can feel quite heavy on the skin if you go for full coverage. You will also drain product on large expanses so if you’re looking to brighten the skin or reduce full face redness, you may want to consider a colour correcting primer.

Not only do you get the priming function, you also get the full face colour correcting and while it’s not as powerful, so to speak, as cream colour correcting, you can then go over really problem areas with the cream colour correction. Some colour correcting primers include:

But that’s the very basics of colour correction! It is different for everyone and is down to personal taste. Some people don’t colour correct as much and use a light coverage foundation for a more natural but polished look and others cover everything they have and go for a completely blank and even canvas. No two people will do it the same and in the same place so have a play about and find a way that works for you!